Transportation: Burkina Faso

Water in Africa

Region

Africa, Burkina Faso

Type

Story

by Jonathan Coleman, Pensa, Burkina Faso

You can walk around the barrage on foot (about six kilometers) or ride around it on a bike. Also, men with pirogues will take you across the barrage for a small fee. A pirogue is small canoelike boat propelled by a man or boy with a long stick or tree branch. He pushes the stick against the bottom of the barrage, where water turns into mud, and guides the boat—just like a gondola in Venice (though not quite as romantic in 40-degree-Celsius heat).